The sacred world of Bapedi Ancestors

Spira Tlhankane | Friday February 17, 2017 18:00

Goo-Moremi Gorge in Tswapong Hills is a remarkable landscape peppered with splendid hills and pebbly narrow beds lined with very tall vegetation, dazzling gorges, abundant wildlife and birdlife, and most importantly the waterfalls.

Situated east of Palapye, on the foot of Tswapong hills and a small village known as Moremi, Goo-Moremi or Manonnyeng Gorge is like a place hidden from the world and it is where the ancestors stay. The waters have lived beyond their time and it is not only renowned for its geological history, but rather dreamtime stories connected to this land.

I was part of an elite corps of the media army who followed the trail to find the source of the ever-flowing waterfalls and connect deeply with the ancestors’ sacred sites and nature.

After our guide Thapelo sought permission from the ancestors, we left in high spirits to follow the five-hour non-stop trail. Only special community members living in the village called the Komana are able to communicate with the gods.

After the ancestors gave us a blessing, we took our hiking sticks and cameras to begin our adventurous and spiritual journey to discover popular walking trails around the waterfalls.

As we spent one-on-one time with nature, I felt that the site was designed for the sole purpose of nurturing religious realisation and the experience of enlightenment. We had the opportunity to encounter the first of the five waterfalls and the view was unlike any other.

As we continued our journey upwards, I could not realise that we were on high ground because the ground landscape was the same. The sound of underwater breathing through an unhampered track ignited the hidden adventurous spirit within me. It was a marvel of nature and the fact that running water was enclosed within the ancient hill range made the place a natural amphitheatre.

I am not the kind of person who likes experimenting, and living life out loud but that day I felt I had gone too far. I have always watched movies about adventurers and things never end well. A friend of mine told me before the journey that if I am not lucky I might disappear within the hills or beneath the waters.

But I was not afraid because I really respected the place and came there with a pure soul. Sex, alcohol and drugs are not allowed in the place because it disturbs the peace.

When we arrived at one of the biggest waterfalls uphill, all that I could instantly think of was outdoor activities like climbing, hiking, rafting and canoeing. Off course it is a spiritual and tourism site and they will never allow such so the thought disappeared from my mind before I could displease the ancestors. The pools inside the gorge are reserved for the ancestors and no one is allowed to swim in them.

On the way we saw gaps and pascording to the guide, Bapedi ancestors used to travel through the deep channels to cross over to the other side.

I was getting excited because I thought we were going to abseil but instead we had to use ropes to climb up and down. We suddenly felt like flamboyant adventurers and it was just the beginning. It looked simple, but in practicality the difficulties were real.

At times I felt I was going to break either my camera or legs as we passed deep crevices. The cascades were not an issue because they required climbing and jumping. As we took a short break next to what looked like a basin, the guide told us that vultures travel from their dwellings to drink there.

We passed through quiet cave passages. It looked like a sculptor had carved the rocks. There were different colours on the rocks and it was the same liquid ancient rock painters used to make art on rock surfaces.

We clambered over boulders feet after back and that was when we saw one of the most interesting aspects of the trip. It was the sight of a stone that fell to alarm the villagers about the death of Sir Seretse Khama. It is believed that on the morning of July 13, 1980 between 2am and 5am, Goo-Moremi villagers heard a loud rumbling as the stone fell from the gorge above. The stone falling is said to be a sign that someone of great importance has passed away. During that time the elders and Komana knew that a chief had died and it was Khama. Just above the large stone on the rock walls is where the stone originally came from.

As my feet trampled the muddy trench of pure clean water, I realised that I should have visited this place earlier. We finally made it to the source of the water and it was a round pool of uncertain depth. It turns out that the pool never dries and during rainy days, it feeds from the waterfall above. We drank from the waterfalls to cleanse our spirits and washed our faces and it felt like a better anointing than the oils we always hear about.

I felt cheated after following a trail for hours only to find a peaceful pool of water that can run water endlessly all year round. “No way, there must be a hidden underwater pool or something,” I thought.

It was not over, so we took a detour to the vulture gorge before heading back. The Cape Vultures and White Backed Vultures are the two most dominate species breeding there. The Cape Vulture is classified as endangered by the International Union Conservation of Nature and the gorge is one of only two breeding sites in Botswana. I watched as vultures ascended over the rocky outcrops from their camouflaged caves.

As we headed back, the journey was quite long because we wanted to get back and rest after the tiresome yet thrilling experience. The rock walls seemed like they were swooping onto us and the sun from above cast red lights onto our heads and suddenly I was worried if ever we were going to arrive. I surely wanted to come back and reconnect with the cultures and spiritual traditions of that place but at that time I could think of nothing less.

The area’s early settlement history is evident in the reserved ruins of kgotla and school. Pre-dating this, the inhabitants of Goo-Moremi, who are descendants of the Pedi tribe in South Africa, came to settle in Botswana because of Mfecane/Difecane wars. The people have lived nearer the hills for years before relocating to the current place.

Nothing new in a thousand years of new moons is ever going to tamper with that spiritual existence of nature because the ancestors protect it.